World Sight Day

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:45): It is something most of us take for granted, but without it we would be lost—quite literally, we would be lost in the dark. Sight allows us to safely navigate our way through day-to-day life and provides us with the gift of seeing sunsets and sunrises, star-filled skies, fine art and the ones we love, to avoid danger by seeing something out of the corner of our eye, and to catch our children taking their first breath. At least that is what those who are lucky to have their sight get to appreciate. Some people never see such things, while others eventually lose their sight through injury or illness.

On World Sight Day, which falls this year on Thursday 9 October, we take pause to celebrate not just our sight but those who commit their lives to giving sight to others. In Australia and New Zealand we can be proud that our own Dr Fred Hollows committed his life to giving sight to communities around the world. Born in New Zealand before becoming an Australian citizen and being named 1989 Australian of the Year, Dr Hollows worked tirelessly to prevent avoidable blindness.

While Dr Hollows died more than 30 years ago, his vision lives on through the Fred Hollows Foundation. Its mission is that nine out of 10 people who are blind or visually impaired do not need to be. The foundation has backed that up by restoring sight or preventing blindness for 150 million people worldwide. Cataracts are a common cause of blindness, as is macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and eye accidents.

In Australia, we are lucky that conditions such as trachoma can be easily treated through the public health system. That, of course, is not available in many Third World countries and even in the United States where a large percentage of the population does not have access to expensive treatments and surgery. In Australia, though, we have to take advantage of the eye care available. Regular eye examinations are available at optometrists in the shopping malls. They can detect conditions such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy at an early stage and allow for timely treatment. It can be the difference between losing and retaining your sight.

Even cataracts, which cause issues ranging from clouded vision to blindness, can often be treated by surgery with the replacement of the lens. For most of us, getting reading glasses or prescription glasses for safer driving is the most significant requirement we will experience. Those of us who have had to get glasses for short or long-term vision can attest to how awkward and debilitating life is without them, so spare a thought for those who lose their sight altogether.

Science is making great headways in the quest to eradicate blindness, but there is still a long way to go. Even accidents such as a rock hitting the eye are more treatable than they were a generation ago. Whereas the piercing of an eye could have at one time often led to its removal, advances in eye surgery are changing that. These advances are helping to save the sight of the kids who did not listen to their parents when they were told not to throw stones or sticks or pine cones.

On 9 October, let us spare a thought for all those who have lost their sight and breathe a sigh of relief for those who have managed to overcome injury or illness in retaining it, and let us commend the scientists, doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals on the frontlines for giving the gift of sight to those who once could never afford it.